Lexical Summary
malluach: Saltwort, a type of plant
Original Word:מַלוַּח
Part of Speech:Noun Masculine
Transliteration:malluwach
Pronunciation:mal-loo'-akh
Phonetic Spelling:(mal-loo'-akh)
KJV: mallows
NASB:mallow
Word Origin:[fromH4414 (מָלַח - To salt)]
1. sea-purslain (from its saltness)
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance
mallows
Frommalach; sea-purslain (from its saltness) -- mallows.
see HEBREWmalach
NAS Exhaustive Concordance
Word Originfrom the same as
melachDefinitionmallow
NASB Translationmallow (1).
Brown-Driver-Briggs
;
Job 30:4 (compare Now
Archaeology i. 67, 112).
Topical Lexicon
Biblical Occurrence and ContextJob 30:4 records the single appearance of the term: “They pluck mallow among the bushes, and the roots of the broom tree are their food” (Berean Standard Bible). Spoken by Job, the verse describes society’s outcasts scavenging for the most meagre nourishment. The picture heightens Job’s lament; by comparing himself to those who survive on such forage, he underscores the depth of his humiliation after once enjoying honor and prosperity.
Probable Botanical Identification
Ancient and modern scholars connect the word with salt-tolerant plants that thrive in arid, saline soils:
• Common mallow (Malva rotundifolia / Malva sylvestris)
• Saltwort or sea purslane (Atriplex species)
These shrubs grow near the Dead Sea, in wadis, and along salt flats—exactly the kind of marginal terrain where displaced people would search for food.
Cultural and Historical Setting
1. Survival Forage: In drought or famine, the poor gathered wild herbs, roots, and seeds.2 Kings 4:38–41 shows a similar desperation when a student-prophet collects “wild gourds” that prove poisonous until the miracle of purification through flour.
2. Social Margins: Job contrasts earlier days, surrounded by princes (Job 29), with a present likeness to vagrants. Eating מַלוַּח signifies being cut off from cultivated fields and the covenant community’s regular provision.
Theological Significance
• Human Frailty: The verse reminds readers that prosperity can vanish, leaving only what creation’s fringes supply.
• Divine Compassion: Scripture repeatedly shows God attentive to those in want (Psalm 68:10;Proverbs 22:22–23). Even in the depths of Job’s misery, the Lord later vindicates him, demonstrating that desperate circumstances never escape divine notice.
• Foreshadowing Redemption: The sufferings of the righteous servant in Job anticipate the ultimate Sufferer who “had nowhere to lay His head” (Matthew 8:20). The One who became poor for our sake (2 Corinthians 8:9) ensures that the humble will be “filled with good things” (Luke 1:53).
Ministry and Homiletical Applications
• Compassionate Outreach: Just as the outcasts subsisted on mallûach, contemporary believers are called to identify and aid those living on the margins—physically and spiritually—through acts of mercy and proclamation of hope.
• Contentment and Gratitude: Reflecting onJob 30:4 encourages gratitude for daily bread (Matthew 6:11) and cautions against presuming on material security.
• Endurance in Trials: Job’s testimony assures the afflicted that present scarcity does not define their final state; God “raises the poor from the dust” (Psalm 113:7).
Related Biblical Motifs
• Salt and Purification (Leviticus 2:13;Matthew 5:13) – mallûach’s saline habitat subtly links the imagery of salt with preservation and covenant.
• Desert Provision (Exodus 16;Mark 8:1–9) – the Lord repeatedly supplies sustenance in wilderness settings, pointing to His sufficiency when normal resources fail.
• Reversal of Fortune (1 Samuel 2:7–8;James 4:10) – Job’s narrative arc, framing mallûach as emblematic of lowliness, illustrates the biblical theme of God humbling the proud and exalting the lowly.
Summary
Strong’s Hebrew 4408 paints a vivid portrait of destitution: a wild, salty shrub gathered by the forsaken. Nestled in Job’s lament, the term signals both the depths of human misery and the compassionate interest of God, who ultimately restores and redeems. In every generation, mallûach challenges readers to acknowledge the fragile line between abundance and need, to cultivate mercy toward the dispossessed, and to trust the Lord who feeds His people—even if the meal begins with what grows among the bushes.
Forms and Transliterations
מַלּ֣וּחַ מלוח mal·lū·aḥ malLuach mallūaḥ
Links
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